Taxpayers’ £11m bill to gag tortured Libyan who only wanted an apology
A LEGAL battle to silence a Libyan dissident who was handed over to torturers with Britain’s help cost taxpayers more than £11million.
With the aid of MI6 intelligence, Abdel Hakim Belhaj was kidnapped and sent back to Libya in 2004 with his pregnant wife Fatima Boudchar.
He was flung into a prison controlled by Libyan despot Colonel Gaddafi, where he endured six years of torture. Since his release in 2011 he has campaigned for an apology and compensation from Britain for its part in his capture.
He said he would accept a token £1 if the Government said sorry, but it refused for years. As a result, figures revealed yesterday that the eight-year legal battle has cost the public purse at least £11.4million.
This included almost £7million for Mr Belhaj’s lawyers. A Government spokesman said this fee had been haggled down ‘substantially’, meaning his legal team may have asked for millions more.
The spokesman also said the cost reflected eight years of work on both sides.
Following a change of government and a Supreme Court ruling allowing Mr Belhaj to take the Government to court, Theresa May apologised to Mr Belhaj and his wife last spring and accepted that the UK shared information with Libya that contributed to their rendition. The couple were sent back to Libya in April 2004 after being kidnapped in Thailand by the CIA following a tip-off by MI6.
Katie Taylor, of the human rights group Reprieve, which represented the couple, said: ‘Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Fatima Boudchar were willing to settle for an apology all along but, rather than admit Britain’s role in their rendition, the Government resisted coming clean for years – at astronomical cost to the taxpayer.
‘This failed cover-up shows the need for an inquiry into British complicity in torture.’
Jo Swinson, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, also called for a judge-led inquiry, adding: ‘It is vital that this looks into other questions raised by parliamentary intelligence and security committee reports regarding the scale of UK involvement in US kidnap and torture.’
Mr and Mrs Belhaj were also represented by the law firm Leigh Day, which declined to comment or specify how much of the £7million it received.